Page 45 of The Traitor Queen (The Bridge Kingdom 2)

“Not even the one who just about cut your throat?”

She reached one hand up to his neck, but he swatted it away. “Do not touch me.”

Hugging her arms around her body, she took a step back.

“Sarhina said you roped Ahnna into this plan of yours,” he said. “Where is she? What is she doing? And where exactly do you presume that I’ll be going with you?”

“Ahnna is on her way to Harendell,” Lara answered. “She’s gone to fulfill her half of the Fifteen Year Treaty and to plead for Harendell to assist Ithicana with taking Northwatch back under our control.” She turned her head away. “Underyourcontrol, that is.”

Aren’s hands turned to ice. “You gave my sister away for a treaty that no longer exists? She has no power there. No allies. They can do anything they want to her.” He turned away, mind racing as to how he could stop Ahnna before it was too late. “The only reason they would ever have been good to her was because it earned them favorable terms on the bridge. A bridge Ithicana no longer controls! In their eyes, she’s worthless.”

And Ithicana was worthless. If Harendell wished to wrest Northwatch from Maridrina’s control, they probably could. But there’d be no reason they wouldn’t keep it for themselves. “This plan is folly.”

Lara was silent, then she said, “I disagree. After we parted ways, I spent months in Harendell. This is a venture they will gladly join, but only if you hold up the other end of the bargain.”

“Which is?”

“It’s one thing for Harendell to take Northwatch. Quite another for them to sail across the Tempest Seas to take Southwatch right from under Maridrina’s nose. We need to secure another ally.”

Aren’s gut dropped because heknewwhat she was planning. Just like he knew that it was madness to even dream of it happening.

“Which is why,” Lara continued, “you and I are going to ride south and mend Ithicana’s relationship with the Empress of Valcotta.”

24

Lara

It was near dawn,the sky having cleared overnight to allow a brilliant sunrise of pink and orange and gold, though the beauty of it was lost on Lara. She stood outside the cave’s opening, nibbling on a heel of bread despite having no appetite.

She’d barely slept.

How could she when Bronwyn was on the brink of death, her injury the result of Lara dragging her into this mess. Every time she’d fallen asleep, Lara had jerked awake, certain her sister had stopped breathing. Certain that she’d lost her. That she’d killed her as surely as she had killed Marylyn.

It was made all the worse by Aren. After she’d told him the plan, he’d made every effort to keep as far from her as the cave would allow, refusing to meet her gaze, choosing instead to stare into the depths of the small fire for hours.

Guilt had been her constant companion since the night she’d been exiled from Ithicana, but it surged anew, making her stomach ache. She’d caused so much harm. Even if her plan worked, even if Ithicana secured alliances and took back the bridge, that harm would not be undone.

“You ready?”

Sarhina came up behind her, handing Lara a tin cup full of steaming liquid.

“He hates me.” Despite herself, a hot tear burned down Lara’s cheek, which she brushed away angrily. “I thought—” She broke off, shaking her head. “I don’t know what I thought.”

“That he’d forgive you because you rescued his ungrateful, albeit rather perfect, ass?”

Lara made a noise that was half-laugh, half-sob.

Casting a backward glance at the cave, Sarhina took her arm and led her down the embankment.

The light had grown enough that Lara could see her sister’s face, the shadows under her eyes and the tightness around her mouth. Exhaustion and worry, none of it good for the baby.

“He might never forgive you, you know that, right? And you have no control over whether he does or doesn’t.”

Lara’s neck clicked as she nodded, her muscles tight. “I know.”

“Does that change anything?” Sarhina asked. “Do you want to walk away from this? Because you can. We can give that old bitch and His Grace horses and supplies, then the four of us can get out of here and leave them to do what they will.”

“No.” Lara couldn’t walk away. She’d die before she walked away, regardless of how Aren felt about her. Because freeing Ithicana from her father’s yoke was something she needed to do to live with herself. “Even if he does forgive me, the rest of Ithicana never will. And I won’t make him choose between us. I’ll see this through, and then I’ll leave, and . . .”

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